


Scars

by naturegoddess210



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Scars, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:35:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25840729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naturegoddess210/pseuds/naturegoddess210
Summary: Set right after the fire in "Still"Beth sees Daryl's scars, mentions of Hershel.Friendships are formed.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	Scars

**Author's Note:**

> Did you notice a lot of the similarity between Daryl and Hershel.  
> Both are past victims of child abuse.  
> Struggle with alcohol and or/had drug abuse in their family.  
> Both are good with animals.  
> Both are more then their fathers.  
> Daryl isn't Will Dixon.  
> Neither is Hershel. 
> 
> Girls will fall in love with men who are similar to their fathers

Beth and Daryl burnt down the moonshine shack. 

They had been walking for hours, both still buzzing off of their own respective adrenaline highs. 

There was now a unspoken bond between them, something deep and interwoven that they didn't plan on. 

" right there, see, you can freshen up. " Daryl pointed out the huge lake through the break in the trees. 

Beth was sweaty and smelt like alcohol and Daryl could use a wash as well. 

She turned to him, feeling emboldened by their newly built friendship she felt comfortable enough to say aloud, "okay but you have to get in with me"

Which earned her a cold hard stare. 

"Nah I'm good. "

"Come on, Daryl"

He shook his head, "someone's gotta keep watch"

Beth sighed, she figured it was too much to ask. 

" If you're shy about being naked around me don't be, I don't mind"

"Girl, either wash up or we're going. But I ain't getting in so drop it" 

Beth silently resigned. "Fine fine" 

Yanking her shirt up she saw Daryl startled

"What? I'm not getting in with my clothes on"

Beth didn't have much in ways of breasts so she didn't see the big deal, maybe if she was Maggie maybe but she had small A cups. 

Daryl blushed as he walked away, mumbling about checking for walkers. 

Beth got down to her bra and panties, folding her clothes up on a rock near the bank and slowly made her way into the water. 

God, she could feel the moonshine sweating through her pours, she was thankful for Daryl spoting this otherwise common morning she's sure she'd smell like a drunk in the Georgia humidity. 

"Come on Bethany, don't be a coward, it's just possible freezing cold water, at least you won't smell. " She could already smell the sour smell of body odour that made her throat gag a little and the idea of washing off even if she didn't have soap was heaven. 

She let out a shreek as soon as she got thigh high. The water was freezing. 

Daryl came running through the trees, his bow up "what!!! "

She turned to him her once white bra on display, her underwear wet. Daryl blushed. 

"It's cold! " She chatted her teeth. 

"Girl! You cry wolf again I'mma leave you here"

"No! I'm sorry " He was right she was being childish, unless it was a walker she shouldn't be screaming because of the water temperature. 

Daryl was staring at her while also trying not to, he'd scuff his feet on the dirt and look around like he was waiting for someone to catch him. 

Beth thought he was being silly, she wasn't anything to look at, she was flat as a board so she didn't think he was looking at her like _that_.

Daryl was probably being polite for her sake but he needed a bath as badly as her and she wasn't going to let him get out of it. 

He instead opted for making a fire, he figured she's going to be cold as soon as her skinny ass gets done splashing around. 

She gave up, dunked her head under water a few times almost screaming because of the cold, scrubbing her fingers through her hair to losen any dirt, her pads of her fingers rubbing her scalp. 

After she washed and scrubbed her hair as best as she could given she didn't have any soap, hoping she smelled a tiny bit better (maybe she smells like lake water but oh well) 

Daryl was watching her from his sitting position on the shore. She was illuminated in moonlight, her wet skin glowing. She was so beautiful and flawless. She didn't have any scars like he did. 

That was his real reason for not wanting to get into the water. He didn't want her to see him back. The idea of her seeing it and being disgusted made him not want to move.

Beth came out of the water, her body bathed orange by the fire, she shivered slightly but the air was humid. she'd dry. 

She sat down next to him, sometime between the drinking and the burning down the house they'd become more intimate, Daryl had let his hand fall on her back several times during their walk. She'd let her shoulders bump his as they walked blindly in the dark. 

Something had shifted between them and he wasn't sure if he wanted them to go back to before... 

This pretty blonde girl had decided she wanted to be near him, all greasy and dirty. 

"Why didn't you wanna get in? " She sat with her legs stretched out, feet near the fire, wiggling her toes. 

He shrugged. 

"Is it because you can't swim? "

He gave her a look, "I can swim just fine Greene. "

Her face was really pretty and he tried to look away at something else besides the near naked girl sitting next to him. 

He should get up, go hunt something. 

"Are you afraid of the fish in the water? "

Daryl turned to her "there's fish in the water? "

"Yea I felt them brushing my legs. Or maybe it was a snake" Beth hopes not

Daryl worried his nail, if they're fish in the lake he could maybe catch them something to eat but he'd have to get wet. 

He sighed. 

He might as well show her, he already cried in her arms like a fucking child. 

He shrugged off his leather vest. Taking a deep breath he preceded to undo his shirt buttons. 

Beth watches Daryl take off his wings silently, watching his face which was serious. There was something happening here and she didn't want to speak and possibly break the bubble around them. 

Daryl sat shirtless beside her, his body rigid. 

Beth all at once knew, how could she have been so blind. 

"Oh" Was all Beth said.

Daryl's back had thick scars crisscrossing his broad shoulders. Her dad had the same ones on his. 

"My old man did it, did the same to Merle. "

He had his head hung between his legs his arms folded over his knees. Waiting for her to comment. 

"Can I.. Can I touch them? If it's okay? " 

He nodded. He didn't know why but he'd let her do anything she wanted to. 

She ran delicate fingers up thick bands of scar tissue, some cross his back some his shoulders, some are thinner then others and some are thicker, deeper. 

" My daddy, his dad use to beat him. He use to beat my grandma." Daryl turned to look at her, hearing that Hershel himself had gone through what he himself suffered, Beth saying how her Dad use to drink, it all made sense. 

"My pops use to hit my mom too. Use to beat on her so bad she'd get a concussion. " 

Beth's eyes watered, she cradled his face with her hand and he found himself letting her. 

"My daddy had some scars like this on his back, he said my grandpa would get drunk and take a tree branch and whip him with it but if he was really mad he'd use a belt... He broke my daddy's arm once, so at 15 he left home even though he felt guilty leaving his mom... Was that what it was like with.. " 

She couldn't finish, the thought of a younger Daryl going through what her own daddy had to endure. It made her heart hurt. 

He nodded, "he was a son of a bitch, everything was someone else's fault.. "

_He shot things inside your house?_

"I hope he's dead" Beth said vehemently, Daryl heard the anger in her words and it touched something in him. 

"He is"

"Good"

She let her hand dance gently up his spine, rubbing small circles on his shoulders. She felt him relax under her touch. She leaned her cheek against his back, resting in his solid frame. 

Daryl felt like a weight was lifted. The worst thing about him she knew and she wasn't scared or grossed out. She was resting herself against him, her dainty fingers messaging his back and soothing his anxiety. 

He didn't have to hide his body from her or make excuses. No one from their families had ever seen his scars except Hershel, his silence when he saw them clicked and made sense now. He didn't need to know how he got them. 

It made him feel bonded to Beth, a deeper understanding had formed. 

He stood up taking off his shoes and pants leaving on just his boxers, " I'm going to see if I can catch some fish"

He put his hand out for her to grab, yanking her up in a standing position. 

"Come on Greene I'mma teach you how to fish"

"At night? " 

"Yeah don't worry it's easy, c'mere"

Taking her hand in his and his hunting knife in the other they both walk hand in hand , baptism in cold lake water. 

**Author's Note:**

> I was tired when I wrote this, yay!!


End file.
